“The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team”

“The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team” is a popular sports quote that is usually credited to college basketball coach John Wooden (1910-2010), who included the saying in his book, They Call Me Coach (1972). However, it’s likely that Wooden simply quoted an existing saying.
 
“The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team” was cited in 1963 in The Coach, a sporting goods magazine. “In accepting the award, McClain said he was reminded of a song which said ‘the essence of stardom is in the rest of the team’” was cited in 1964. (The song is not known.)  “The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.” was cited in Sports Illustrated in February 1967, where it was stated that the saying had been posted in the locker room of the North Carolina Tar Heels basketball team.
       
 
26 October 1963, The Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), “Keeping Posted” with Bill Reddy, pg. 11, col. 1:
A quick quote from “The Coach,” a long-lived magazine in the sporting-goods field: (...) Another from the same source: “The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.”
 
27 October 1963, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA), “Behind the Sports Scene” by Bob Roesler, sec. 6, pg. 2, col. 1:
PARTING THOUGHT—It has often been said that the main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.
 
16 April 1964, Sandusky (OH) Register, “At Bellevue Fete: Sams, McClain Gain Top Athletic Awards,” pg. 28, col. 7:
In accepting the award, McClain said he was reminded of a song which said “the essence of stardom is in the rest of the team.”
 
Sports Illustrated
February 20, 1967
Chapel Hill’s Tobacco Rogues
They’re the L&M kids, Bob Lewis and Larry Miller, two more in a long line of Yankees who have maintained North Carolina’s prominence in basketball. An ACC title is the least of this team’s ambitions
Frank Deford
(...)
In the Tar Heel locker room, there is just one little aphorism posted. It says: “The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.”
 
Google Books
They Call Me Coach
By John Wooden with Jack Tobin
Waco, TX: Word Books
1972
Pg. 165:
THe main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.
     
Deadspin
KYLE WAGNER THIS IS SO STUPID October 29, 2013 3:07pm
The New Browns Facility’s Walls Are Full Of Fake Quotes
(...)
(“The main ingredient of stardom is the rest of the team.—John Wooden.”—ed.)
We did find a few that are accurate. The Browns got this John Wooden quote word-for-word correct, from his 1988 book, They Call Me Coach.